Senate Motion to save the ACNC

On 24 June 2015, Labor’s Penny Wong, the Green’s Rachel Siewert, independent Senator Nick Xenophon and the Motoring Enthusiasts Party’s Rick Muir successfully introduced a motion in the Senate calling on the Federal Government to back down from its promise to abolish the charity regulator.

The motion, stated the following:

“That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) the Government‘s plans to abolish the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission are creating uncertainty in the charities sector and leading to high staff turnover within the Commission, and

(ii) the Minister for Social Services (Mr Morrison) has admitted he has no immediate plans to progress the legislation to give effect to the abolition of the Commission; and

(b) calls on the Government to withdraw the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (Repeal) (No. 1) Bill 2014 to provide certainty to Australia‘s charities”.

The motion was passed on the voices, without the need for a formal vote.